Within hours of an announcement that a hurricane is coming to a specific geographical area, home and business owners scurry to add hurricane protection to their homes and business facilities. High winds cause flying debris to become air-borne projectiles capable of breaking glass windows and damaging property. Once a window is broken, the structural integrity of the entire building becomes problematic because of the pressure differences existing between the inside of the building and the environment. This pressure difference has the ability to cause roof loss, which is to be avoided. Thus hurricane protection is desirable.
Hurricane protection is currently available in many forms, which include permanent and temporary attachments to the structure that they are intended to protect. Examples of permanent construction additions include                (a) accordion hurricane shutters, which are housed beside the windows when not in use and unfold to cover and protect during a storm. And, although they are easy for one person to make storm-ready, they are expensive to install and can detract from the aesthetics of the dwelling, need continuous maintenance, and, based on their roller mechanism, are prone to break more easily.        (b) colonial hurricane shutters, which are expensive louvered shutters that attach to the wall beside each window and fold together to protect the window. This type of shutter is easy for one person to make storm-ready, and actually can add to the beauty of the dwelling, however, depending on the construction, may require a time-consuming installation of a center bar and cannot be used to protect non-window openings such as doors.        (c) Bahama hurricane shutters, which are an expensive one-piece louvered shutter attached above the window and can be propped open to provide shade for the window. They are easily made storm-ready by one person when lowered and secured to the wall. Since the shutter is opaque, it creates a dark cave effect within the dwelling.        (d) roll-down hurricane shutters, which roll down from an enclosed box above the window and can easily be made storm-ready by one person. These shutters are the most expensive and can be relatively difficult to roll up after a storm during a power outage.        (e) hurricane glass, which, once installed, is, of course, the easiest to use since it becomes the window glass. However this specially treated glass (comprised of a synthetic layer sandwiched between glass) will break the outer layer upon impact. The center synthetic layer will prevent a hole, however, after the storm, the broken window or door and frame needs to be replaced at a significant cost.        (f) plastic screens, which are predominantly used to protect openings from high-speed wind, rain, and air-borne missiles. Although this type of shutter system theoretically can be installed initially by an installer and then by the home or business owner before each storm, installation is difficult and dependent on securely anchoring plastic screen holders and, furthermore, storm readiness depends on ability of home or business owner to secure studs into grommets, often taking more than one person to do so.        
Examples of temporary additions include:                (a) corrugated storm panels, which are overlapped and mechanically fastened to a track of studs. Each panel is heavy and awkward to install (often requiring more than one person), takes a lot of time to install, and is opaque, making an enclosed dwelling dark and creates a cave-effect inside. Furthermore overlapping storm panels create a hazard if and when an emergency escape is required. These panels are virtually impossible to open from the inside.        (b) plywood storm panels, which are formed by one or more pieces of plywood and attached to the window or dwelling outside wall by means of anchors. Each panel is heavy and awkward and usually takes more than one person to install, takes a lot of time to install, does not allow light to pass through, and is not able to be opened from the inside.        (c) corrugated plastic panels, which are lightweight, translucent and relatively easy to install, however, the supporting structure is the weakest component of this type of hurricane shutter. Overlapping storm panels create a hazard if and when an emergency escape is required. These panels are virtually impossible to open from the inside.        
Unfortunately, permanent construction additions typically require installation by a certified building contractor, which brings with it an associated skilled-labor cost. Temporary additions, on the other hand, are typically installed by homeowners and are therefore, less expensive. However, temporary additions require a large amount of time and labor on the part of the home or business owner to install the protection prior to a storm and to remove the protection after the storm.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.